WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today voted for the bipartisan joint war powers resolution, of which he is a cosponsor, to end unauthorized U.S. military involvement in Yemen. The resolution passed the Senate 56-41.
“The Constitution is clear – Article 1, Section 8 states ‘The Congress shall have Power: To declare War.’ But there was never a vote to authorize U.S. military involvement in the Saudi-led coalition’s war in Yemen,” Durbin said. “Not only was this war never authorized by the elected representatives of the American people – it is a humanitarian disaster. An estimated 85,000 children have already died of malnutrition. And in a country of 28 million, nearly half are facing famine. On top of it all, we also know that the Saudi coalition is being led by a reckless crown prince who I believe had direct knowledge of the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi.”
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Durbin continued, “This debate and vote were long overdue. Not another taxpayer dollar or American life should be put on the line in support of this Saudi-led disaster in Yemen.”
The joint resolution would halt U.S. military support for the Saudi-led coalition’s war in Yemen pursuant to the 1973 War Powers Act. In March, Durbin supported a similar bipartisan joint war powers resolution to end unauthorized U.S. military involvement in Yemen, which was the first-ever vote in the Senate to withdraw U.S. Armed Forces from an unauthorized war. Durbin has a long history of defending Congress’s constitutional role in matters of war, regardless of who was in the White House.
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